The short version
- We collect only what the app needs: your name, your course, your sign-in details and your learning progress.
- We do not sell your data, show adverts or use tracking or analytics cookies.
- Your AI tutor messages are sent to our AI provider to generate a reply. We do not save your tutor conversations.
- Photos you send for feedback are analysed and then discarded. We keep only the written feedback.
- You can delete your account from your Profile, or ask us to do it, at any time.
1. Who we are
SalonVQ is a trading name of Hughes Education Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 17496832). Registered office: 82a James Carter Road, Mildenhall, Bury St. Edmunds, England, IP28 7DE.
This policy covers SalonVQ Study, at salonvqstudy.com and in the SalonVQ Study app.
Contact us about privacy at hello@salonvq.com. Email is the quickest way to reach us.
Hughes Education Ltd is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) as a data controller. Our registration number is ZC265182.
2. Which kind of account you have
SalonVQ Study has three kinds of account, and who is responsible for your data depends on which one you have.
- Independent learner. You created your own account with an email address and password. Hughes Education Ltd is the data controller.
- College learner. Your college or training provider created your account and you sign in with a username and PIN. Your college is the data controller and we process your data on its behalf, under its instructions. For questions about your data, speak to your tutor or your college's data protection officer first.
- Teacher or college staff. You sign in with your work email. Your college is the data controller for the learner data you manage. We are the controller for your own sign-in details.
3. What we collect
| Information | Who it applies to | Why we need it |
|---|---|---|
| Name and course | All learners | To set up your account and show the right lessons |
| Email address and password | Independent learners, teachers | To sign you in, reset your password and send sign-in codes. Passwords are stored only in a scrambled (hashed) form that we cannot read |
| Username and PIN, class and college | College learners | To sign you in and link you to your teacher's class |
| Learning progress: lessons completed, quiz scores, XP, streaks, badges, teacher-set tasks and answers to class questions | All learners | To track your progress, run leaderboards within your course and level, and (for college learners) show your teacher how you are getting on |
| Accessibility and learning support choices (for example dyslexia, autism, ADHD, English as an additional language, visual impairment), an optional private note, and your reading background colour | Learners who choose to give them; for college learners, support needs may be entered by your college | To adapt how the app looks and how lessons are worded |
| Written feedback from photo tools (Style Check, practical feedback, test analysis) | Learners who use them, or whose teacher uses them | To give you feedback and suggest revision. The photo itself is not stored |
| App ratings and comments you send us | Learners who send them | To improve the app |
| Technical information: IP address, sign-in attempts and usage counts | Everyone | To keep accounts secure and prevent misuse, for example limiting repeated sign-in attempts |
We do not ask for your date of birth, address, phone number or payment card details.
4. The AI tutors and photo feedback
Jade, Kai and Bella are AI tutors. Their replies are generated by Claude, an AI model provided by Anthropic.
- When you chat with a tutor, your messages and the lesson instructions are sent to Anthropic to generate the reply. Your name, email address and account details are not sent.
- If you have chosen learning support options, only neutral teaching preferences are sent (for example "use short paragraphs"). The names of any conditions and your private note are never sent to the AI.
- We do not save your tutor conversations on our servers. They exist only in the app while a lesson is open.
- When you or your teacher send a photo for feedback, the photo is sent to Anthropic to be analysed and is then discarded. We keep only the written feedback.
- Under its commercial terms, Anthropic does not use this content to train its AI models.
Please do not type personal details about yourself or other people, such as clients, into tutor chats, and do not photograph anyone's face without their permission.
AI replies can contain mistakes. The tutors support your learning and do not replace your teacher, your awarding body's requirements or formal assessment.
5. Our legal reasons for using your data
- Contract: to provide the service you signed up for (independent learners and teachers).
- Consent: for accessibility and learning support choices you give us yourself. These can reveal information about your health, so we use them only with your consent. You can change or remove them in your Profile at any time.
- Legitimate interests: to keep accounts secure, prevent misuse and improve the app.
- Legal obligation: where the law requires us to keep or share information.
For college learners, your college decides the legal reason for using your data and will tell you about it in its own privacy notice.
6. Who we share data with
We never sell personal data. We use a small number of suppliers to run the service, and each acts only on our instructions:
| Supplier | What they do | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Render | Hosts the app and its database | Stored in Frankfurt, Germany (EU). Render is a US company |
| Anthropic | Generates AI tutor replies and photo feedback | Processed in the United States |
| Resend | Sends password reset and sign-in code emails | United States |
| Google Fonts | Supplies the fonts the app displays. Your browser requests them directly from Google, which sees your IP address | Global |
If you are a college learner, your teacher and authorised staff at your college can see your progress, results and feedback.
We may also share information if the law requires it, or to protect someone's safety.
7. Transfers outside the UK
Some of our suppliers are based in the United States. Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, it is protected by safeguards recognised under UK data protection law, such as the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework or standard contractual clauses with the UK Addendum.
8. How long we keep it
- Independent learners: until you delete your account or ask us to. Deleting your account removes your profile, progress, feedback, ratings and comments.
- College learners: until your college removes your account or its agreement with us ends.
- Sign-in codes and security records: minutes to hours. They are cleared automatically once they expire.
- Backups: deleted data can remain in encrypted database backups for a short period before those backups are replaced.
9. Storage on your device
We do not use advertising or analytics cookies. The app stores a small amount of information in your browser so it works properly: your sign-in session (cleared when you close the tab or app), a copy of your progress and settings, and files that let the app load quickly.
10. How we protect your data
- All connections use HTTPS encryption, and the database is encrypted where it is stored.
- Passwords are stored only in hashed form.
- Teacher and staff accounts need a one-time code sent by email as well as a password. Independent learners can turn this on too.
- Learner sessions end automatically after 60 minutes without activity.
- Repeated sign-in attempts are limited, and each college's data is kept separate.
No online service can be completely secure. If a breach is likely to affect you, we will tell you and the ICO as the law requires.
11. Your rights
Under UK data protection law you can ask to:
- see a copy of your personal data;
- have it corrected or deleted;
- restrict or object to how we use it;
- receive it in a portable format;
- withdraw consent, where we rely on consent.
Independent learners can delete their account at any time from Profile → Delete my account, or by emailing hello@salonvq.com from the address on the account. We will reply to any request within one month.
College learners should contact their college first. We will help your college respond.
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, please tell us so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.
12. Age
You must be 16 or over to create an independent learner account. Learners under 16 can use SalonVQ Study only through an account set up by their school, college or training provider. If we learn that someone under 16 has created an independent account, we will delete it.
13. Changes to this policy
We will update this page when the way we handle data changes, and change the date at the top. If a change is significant, we will tell you in the app or by email.